Terror threat causes evacuation at Rock am Ring festival in Germany

PUBLISHED Fri, June 02, 2017 - 3:31pm EDT

File photo (Credit: Rock am Ring)

Rock am Ring, one of the biggest music festivals in Germany, has been evacuated and suspended for the day due to "concrete indications" of a terrorist threat, local police say. Only few details were immediately available. (more)

The incident happened at around 9 p.m. local time on Friday when police instructed organizers to interrupt the festival. "The circumstances are concrete indications due to which we cannot exclude a possible terrorist threat," a police spokesperson said.

Police declined to provide specific details about the nature of the threat, adding that an investigation is currently underway. "Safety is the first priority and a threat to festival visitors must be excluded as far as possible, so it was decided to suspend the festival for the day," police said.

As a result, thousands of people who were attending the first day of the rock festival were evacuated. The event is taking place at the Nürburgring motorsports complex in Nürburg, not far from the border with Belgium and about 96 kilometers (60 miles) northwest of Frankfurt.

Security for the three-day event had already been increased as a result of last month's suicide bombing at an Ariana Grande concert in England, killing 22 people. About 1,200 security personnel were called up to provide security for the high-profile event.

Other details were not immediately available.

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